Papa's Princess
by angelzlovely
Summary: what would happen if Cruger promoted Sky, Bridge, and Z to Asquad, but not Syd...memories come back along with past demons for our favorite SPD princess
1. Chapter 1

B-SQAUD RANGERS. REPORT TO COMMAND. B-SQUAD RANGERS. REPORT TO COMMAND.

As the rangers arrived(minus Jack) they saluted Commander Cruger and stood at attention as Cruger addressed them. After informing the squad that jack has left SPD, Cruger calls Sky forward.

"Cadet Tate, if I were to appoint Cadet Drew as red ranger, would you follow her into battle?" Cruger asks Sky. Without hesitation, Sky Replies, "Anyone that you would choose to wear red, I would follow into battle sir."

Cruger tells Sky to fall back into line. After a few seconds of pacing, Cruger says, "as you know, we are lacking an A-squad. With that said, I would like to offer you, Cadet Tate, the position of A-squad red ranger."

After a moment of thought Sky says, "I would be honored to be the A-squad red ranger." Sky shook Crugar's paw and accept the new morpher.

Cruger then moves onto Bridge. "Cadet Carson, I would like to offer you the position of A-squad blue ranger."

"thank you sir, I would be honored to be the A-squad blue ranger." And, like Sky, he shook Cruger's paw, accepted the new morpher, and stood at attention next to his new squad leader, Sky Tate.

Standing infront of Z, Cruger says, "Cadet Delgado, I would like to offer you the position of A-squad green ranger, but I have noticed that you have taken to being the yellow ranger. So instead of the position of A-squad green ranger, I would like to offer you the position of A-squad yellow ranger."

"Commander, you read my mind, I would be honored to be the A-squad yellow ranger." With that, she did the same as her two male teammates and joined them.

With Syd the last one left, they all expect to hear Crugar say "Cadet Drew, I would like to offer you the position of A-squad pink ranger." But it never came. Instead, Cruger turned to the newly formed A-squad and said, "you three are dismissed, congradulations on all of your promotions."

All three of them looked at eachother wondering why they were being dismissed.

"but sir, what about…"

"Cadet Carson, I believe I dismissed you three. Sydney, I would like to speak with you alone." Cruger said looking at Syd the whole time.

"yes sir." Syd said attempting to mask her worry with an emotionless expression.

in the lounge?

"I wonder what Cruger is talking to Syd about." Bridge said out loud so that his two teammates could hear him.

Bridge was sitting on a couch next to Z, who was reading, more like staring, a magazine. Sky sat in a chair across from them taking an interest in the blue carpet.

Suddenly, Z slammed the magazine on the table between her and Sky and said worriedly, "you don't think he's demoting her or relieving her of her duties do you?"

"of course not! Sydney is a great ranger. She is too valuable for Cruger to just let go. We need her here." Sky said, finally looking up from his stare at the carpet.

"I don't know Sky, if Cruger was going to put Syd on our team he would have done it and then talked to her in private. I think something's up." Bridge said.

They all sat in silence thinking up their own reason for why Cruger would need to talk to Syd in private.

in the Commander's office(does he have an office?)

Cruger took a seat at his desk and motions for Sydney to take the Seat infront of him. "Now Sydney, I would like to speak to you about being a ranger. I know that you have a strong dedication to being an SPD ranger, but what I want to know is what your take is on the red ranger." Cruger says, never taking his eyes off of Sydney.

"well, I think that Sky is highly capable of leading the A-squad power rangers, especially if its Bridge and Z…" but before Sydney can ask about herself, Cruger interrupts her and says, "no. I wasn't talking about Sky. I want to know what you think about a new B-squad."

"well I think that a new B-squad would be the proper move to make after promoting Sky, Bridge, and Z to A-squad. So I'm guessing that it will be C-squad that will receive the promotion?" Syd asks, even though she would much rather be talking about why she herself has not received a promotion.

"your assumptions are correct. Here are the new members of B-squad."

With that, he pulls out 5 folders labeled one(which was the color red), two(colored blue), three(colored green), four(colored yellow), and five(colored pink).

First, he opens the pink folder revealing a young brunette woman.

"this is Allison Welder. First female cadet to finish running Course 5 in 45 minutes." Cruger boasts about the new B-squad pink ranger.

"wow. That's amazing. I've only been able to finish that trail in an hour 30. Her shooting could use improvement, but other than that she seems like she is highly capable of being the B-squad pink ranger." Syd says sadly because now she really doesn't know what the commander is going to do with her.

As Sydney closes the folder on Allison, Cruger hands her the yellow folder.

"that is Peter Matthews. He is an amazing mechanic. He often helps Kat and Boom with the zord maintanance."

Cruger watches Sydney look over Peter's stats and notices a flash of sadness on her face, but as soon as he saw it, the mask was quickly put up and once again he could not read her expression. _Don't worry Syd. By the end of this meeting you will understand._

Without a word, Sydney closes Peter's file and opens the next file.

"Marcus Hunnington. Special skills are nagociation and hand-to-hand combat. Hmm. Fastest time on the obstacle course. Wow he even beat Sky time. Impressive." Syd says as she closes the file and opens the blue one.

"Alfred Hunnington. Marcus's brother. Wow, he seems to have an amazing shot, but he's a hothead who finishes last on the obstacle course. Does that make him the evil twin or the good one?" Syd says with a smile on her face, receiving a smile from Cruger signified that the joke was acceptable.

Before Syd could touch the red file, Cruger snatched it out of her hands.

"Sydney…" Cruger was interrupted when Syd said, "wait commander. Before we go on, I want to know one thing. What is going to happen to me? I mean, you promoted everyone else on B-squad to A-squad and u made Allison the B-squad pink ranger so what does that make me now?" By the end of her rant, she was near tears.

To answer her question Cruger simply said, "the B-squad red ranger." Cruger grinned as he saw the shock on the young cadet's face.

"w-what?" Syd said.

"I would like to offer you the position of B-squad red ranger. You have grown amensely since u first enrolled into SPD. I know that out of everyone on your previous team, excluding Sky, you are the most capable to lead the next team of rangers." As he said this, Sydney could hear the pride in his voice and she knew that he meant every word he just spoke.

As he stood up from his chair, Sydney followed suite.

"so Cadet Sydney Drew, do you accept the position of B-squad red ranger?" Cruger asks holding the red file, her file, and a new morpher in his hands.

"Commander Anubus Cruger, I would be honored to serve as the B-squad red ranger."

With that, she accepted her file, her new morpher, and a giant bear(well I guess a giant dog) hug from her superior commander. A tear rolled down her face as she accept this great honor.

As they pulled away from each other, she gave her salute and he dismissed her.

Walking down the hallway on her way to her room she was completely dazed. _I can't believe I am a red ranger. I bet Papa would be proud. _A tear ran down her face as she remembered her father. Her real father, Carter Grayson. Not wanting to think about he father, she shook the thought away and was about to go into her room when she realized that she hadn't seen the rest of the team(well… her ex-team) since this morning. _They must think that I got canned or something. I got to tell them the great news. Hmm. They're probably in the lounge. _At that thought, she turned on her heal and headed for the lounge.

TBC… Reviews would be appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

in the lounge

an hour had passed since they had seen Syd. Z got up and started pacing. Another hour passed and still no Syd. Z sat down as Bridge got up and then down on his head so that he could think. Another hour passed and Sky got up to pace. As another hour passed, all three of them had come to be on there heads in a hand stand when Syd walked in.

"what are u guys doing?" she said casually as she walked over to them.

"SYD! What happened? What did Cruger say? Are you on the team? Did he demote you? Did he can you? Did he…" in the middle of Z's question, Syd cut her off and said "Z CHILL! Everythings fine. Now, lets just all sit down and chill out for a second."

As she walked over to the couches she was followed by all three of them. _Wow. They are really freaking out about this. I wonder how they're going to react when I tell them what happened. _I took a deep breath and got ready to say something, but Bridge cut me off when he said "So did you get demoted? Or did you get canned? Or both? I guess if u get canned then u basically get demoted but…"

"BRIDGE! Let the girl tell her story!" Sky said before sitting down and giving Syd a cue to begin her story.

"alright. Now that we are all settled and comfortable, its time for my explaination. Well, I guess I should start by why I was in his office for so long. Cruger asked me what I thought about a new B-squad and I said that would be a good idea. I asked him if it was going to be C-squad for the promotion and he said yes. He took out five files…all color coded and numbered for the new B-squad rangers. One by one we looked through them. By the way, I'm not B-squad pink anymore. But that's a minor detail. Anyways, we were about to open the red file when he stopped me and I just chewed his head off. I asked him what I was doing there and I asked him if he was going to promote me to A-squad cause obviously I wasn't B-squad pink anymore. I asked him what I was and guess what he said!" and before anyone could answer, Syd answered her own question.

"B-squad red!" as she said this she jumped up with Bridge and Z and they all started jumping around.

Z and Bridge were shouting their congradulations and Syd was thanking them. As they started settling down and finally let go of each other, Syd noticed that Sky was stood with his arms across his chest.

When their eyes met, she knew he was proud of her, but she saw something else in his eyes. He was sad. _That's weird. Why would he be sad. I'm still SPD. I haven't left. _Sky walked over to Syd and brought her into his embrace. He brought his head down right by her ear and said "congradulations Sydney. You'll be an amazing leader."

A tear slid down sydney's cheek but she didn't wipe it away. It was a happy tear. As they pulled apart, Sky had spotted the tear. He lifted his hand to the side of her face and used his thumb to wipe the tear away. She smiled back at him and mouthed "thank you".

"So our Syd is gonna be a leader huh? This is going to be great. The question is, can the SPD princess be a hard ass?" Z asked and when she looked at Syd they said in unison, "hell yeah!"

"hey guys. I think we should celebrate tonight. All of us got promoted. We should invite jack too. He will flip out." Bridge said. So all of them agreed to meet back in the lounge at 7:30 to go out to dinner.

7:25-Syd and Z's room

"come on Syd! We're gonna be late meeting the guys if u don't hurry your little booty up!" Z shouted at the closet that Syd was currently in, looking for a pair of shoes to wear.

"chill out Z! I have to find the perfect shoes." Syd shouted from within the closet.

"Syd, with what your wearing, I doubt Sky will be looking at your feet." Z said.

"Z, you know me too well." She said as she exited the closet.

The two girls stood side-by-side looking in front of a mirror. "we look hott!" Syd said to her best friend/sister. "hell yeah we do!" Z replied.

7:35-lounge

"where are the girls?" Sky asked.

"you know Syd, she's probably still looking for her shoes to match her dress." Jack said. After they agreed to go out to dinner, Bridge had called Jack and told him about the promotions and the dinner. Jack agreed to the dinner.

"yeah, good thing I borrowed a pair, otherwise we would be here all night." Syd said as she walked into the lounge with Z. all of the boys turned around.

All they could do was stare. Z was wearing a yellow halter dress that went just passed her knees with black wedged shoes(yeah I know it doesn't sound pretty but in my mind it is gorgeous so go along with it.) Sydney wore a strapless red satin dress with red heals to match(just think veronica mars' homecoming dress first season).

Jack was the first one to come back to reality. "wow ladies. You clean up nicely. Congradulations." Jack said as he gave his girls/sisters a huge hug.

Bridge finally snapped out of his trance and walked over to the three.

"hey, you can't have a group hug without the rest of the group." Bridge said as he joined in the hug.

Sky still stood, mesmerized by the beauty of the two girls. Well, one girl in particular. _She's so beautiful. Wait. Snap out of it Sky. This is wrong. It's against the rules. Well, actually its not so against the rules now that she isn't on the same squad. But still. She's your best friend. And she's supposed to be like your sister. Supposed to._

"come on Sky! Like Bridge said, it can't be a group hug without the whole group!" syd said as she motioned for Sky to come join them in the hug.

Sky smiled widely as he joined in the group hug. This is how its supposed to be. All of them together. Well, mostly.

some awesome restaurant in New Tech City

"so Syd, B-squad red huh? I always knew you were after my job." Jack said jokingly as they waited for their food.

"yeah well, I saw how much fun you had so I just had to accept." Syd said laughing.

"so how's the new team? Are they any good?" Jack asked.

"Well I haven't met them in person yet so I haven't exactly seen them in action. In fact, I don't even think they've seen action. But I have seen their stats and their amazing. Some improvements here and there, but we can work that out with a little training." Syd said casually. Everyone stared at her, amazed.

They had known that the commander informed her about B-squad, but they had no idea how little she actually knew of her own team.

"so other than their stats, you know nothing?" Bridge said.

"nope. But I intend on getting to know them. I can't be on a team that I don't know on a personal level. Everything would go to hell." Syd said.

They all knew what she was talking about. Up until SWAT, they hadn't exactly been the best of friends. But after, they fought better then they have ever fought before.

"sounds like you have a good grasp on how you're gonna take care of this team. We're really proud of you Syd. Really, we are." Z said lovingly. She wanted to make sure Syd knew that they were still there for her. The three males at the table nodded in agreement.

"thanks guys. I appreciate the support a lot. But lets not forget that someone else at this table was promoted to red status as well." Syd was hinting towards Sky.

Sky blushed in acknowledgement. "yeah man! A-squad red! That's a big deal." Jack said, patting Sky on the back.

"yeah well, I'm sure that if you were still on the team, you would be in this position." Sky said modestly.

"actually Sky, I believe that he would be in my position, had he stayed aboard SPD." Syd said matter-of-factly. As the dinner went on, playful banter was tossed around the table. They had truly become the best of friends.

parking lot of the restaurant

as they walked out of the restaurant, they all felt reluctant to leave. They knew that after today, everything would change. Jack will go back to the outside world. Sky, Bridge, and Z will be on a higher ranked team. Syd will be the commanding officer for B-squad. Things will definitely be different.

"well guys, I guess this will be the last time I see you guys for a long time." Jack said sadly.

"come on Jack. Its not like you're falling off the face of the planet. We'll still hang out. I'm even planning on coming out once in awhile to help your ass out." Z said.

"thanks Z. But you guys will be busy going on mission. Syd will be busy training and bonding with her team. Hell, I'll be busy with the new business. But we will most definitely stay in touch."

"aww… I feel another group hug comin' on!" as Syd said this, they all gathered around for another group hug. They've been having a lot of those.

"Alright guys. I think its time for a group pact. We will never EVER loose touch with each other. Everyday there shall be emails and phone calls if not, personal appearances. If there is one day without either of the three, then I shall raise hell on whoever skipped a day. Agreed?" Syd asked. "agreed!" they all said and put there hands in to signify compliment.

"alright. Now that that's cleared up, I need to go get some sleep. I asked Cruger if I could be the one to give C-squad their promotions and I plan on giving it to them at 5 in the morning." Syd said with a sly smile on her face.

"ooh. Evil. I like it." Jack said as he gave her a last hug good-bye, which turned into a group hug.

"alright. I really need to go." Syd said.

"Syd, you didn't drive. How do you plan on getting home?" Z asked.

Syd stood there for a moment. _I never thought of that. How am I going to get home? _But before she could voice her thoughts, Sky said, "well, I brought my bike so I can take her home if you guys still want to hang out. I'm getting pretty tired anyways." With that said, the five friends gathered for another group hug and said their good-byes.

garage(I know stupid) at SPD

after dismounting from Sky's bike, Syd turned to the man in red and said, "thank you for giving me a ride back. I know your not tired so thank you." Sky blushed. _Of course she knows I wasn't tired. She's known me too long for goodness sakes. _

"damn, I guess I'm caught. Come on, I'll walk you to your room." Sky said and they were off. All the way to her room, neither of them spoke a word, but it was a comfortable silence non the less.

in front of Syd and Z's room

"thank you for walking me to my room. Very gentleman-like of you, Tate. Would have never guessed it." Syd said jokingly.

"hey! I would like you to know that I am quite the gentleman, when I want to be. Goodnight Syd." Sky said before kissing her lightly on the forehead and turning around towards the direction of his room.

Sydney Drew would have never guessed that Sky Tate was walking back to his room with a very prominent blush residing on his face accompanied by a very large smile.

A/N: umm…not my favorite chapter, but you get to see more interaction between Syd and Sky. Review please! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

2:30 a.m. (in case your wondering, Z and Bridge are not back yet, their out with Jack)

"_**Syd! Run!" the man screamed as he pushed the 7 year old girl out of the way. **_

"_**Papa! Papa! Where are you!" as the young Sydney turned around, she realized that the ceiling above had collapsed, separating her from the man. **_

"_**Sydney, get out of here!" the man screamed, trying to shield his eyes from the flames. **_

"_**But papa! I can't leave you here!" tears were swelling in the young girl's eyes, making it harder and harder for her to see her father. **_

"_**Cadet Grayson! That is a direct order from Commander Papa! Get out of here!" the young man said. **_

_**Right when she was about to object the command, she watched as the ceiling above the man collapsed. "No…NO PAPA!" **_

"PAPA!" Sydney screamed as she awoke from the dream. _No…why are they back? Why have the dreams come back? _ She looked around in search for her loving stuffed animal, peanuts. When she found it, she held it for dear life. _Make them go away peanuts, make them go away. _Just then she heard her door slide open.

"thanks for walking me to my room. Good night Bridge." When Z walked in she saw Syd huddled in the corner of her bed clutching Peanuts for dear life.

"oh my gosh Syd, are you ok? What happened?" Syd still had tears running down her eyes and she was shaking. Z sat next to her on her bed and pulled her into her embrace.

After the tears stopped rolling, Syd said, "thanks Z. I really needed that."

"What happened Syd?"

"nothing, it was just a bad dream" Syd said unconvincingly. _More like a horrible memory. _

"alright. Do you want me to stay?" Z asked.

"thanks sis." And the two "sisters" fell asleep on Sydney Grayson Drew's bed.

4:30 Syd and Z's room

"Syd, wake up. Syd. Its 4:30 and your alarm clock is blaring!" Z said sleepily as she attempted to shake Syd awake.

Finally, after 10 minutes of shaking, Syd woke up. When she saw the clock, Syd immediately woke up and ran to her closet, grabbed some clothes, and left for the bathrooms.

"wow, never seen the girl run so fast. Oh well." With that, Elizabeth Delgado fell back into a comfortable sleep.

5:00 in Command(yeah I know, I skipped after she got ready and all that but whatever, its my story)

after hearing the announcement throughout the academy(C-squad to command), the four members of the squad ran in to the command and at attention infront of Commander Cruger.

"Now, as you probably know, the B-squad rangers have been promoted to A-squad status. With that said, Cadet Welder, you have been promoted to B-squad pink." The surprised young girl took the new morpher from Cruger and shook his paw.

"thank you sir." She replied quietly as she stepped back into line.

"Cadet Matthews, you have been promoted to B-squad yellow."

"thank you sir."

"Cadet Marcus Hunnington, you have been promoted to B-squad green."

"thank you sir."

"Cadet Alfred Hunnington, you have been promoted to B-squad blue."

"umm, thank you sir, but I have a question." Al said hesitantly.

"well then voice it cadet." Cruger said.

"well, why am I being made B-squad blue ranger if there is only four of us? Shouldn't I be made the red ranger?" Al asked boldly.

"are you questioning my choices in promotions cadet?" Cruger asked curiously.

"no sir. I was just curious as to who will be our commanding leader." Al said as he stepped back into line with his teammates.

"well then, cadet, I suppose I must satisfy that curiousity. Meet your new commanding leader, B-squad red ranger, Cadet Sydney Drew." As he said this he turned around and there stood Syd in her Red SPD uniform.

The four younger cadets looked amazed. They had all heard about the SPD princess. Even though they knew that she was a pink ranger previously, they still had her pinned as a princess.

"She's our leader?" Al asked ludicrously.

"do you have a problem with that cadet?" cruger asked with a growl.

"no Sir. No problem at all." Al said as he once again stepped back into line.

"now Cadet Drew, I assume you have your training schedule planned out?" "

of course sir. I think that after today, there will be no question of 'who's the leader'" Syd said with a very 'leader'-ish voice(sorry, I didn't know exactly how to put that.)

"let's hope so Syd." Cruger said with a wink. _Alfred Hunnington will most definitely regret his statement after today. Lets just hope that she receives the respect she deserves. _


	4. Chapter 4

training grounds

Sky, Bridge, and Z were running a trail. Trail 3 to be exact. Its not the easiest trail but its not the most difficult. Sky had decided to take an easy run this morning so that they could save their energy for some intense combat training afterwards.

"I wonder how Syd's meeting with her new team went this morning?" Bridge said.

"yeah, about Syd. Has she ever come to you guys about a nightmare or something like that?" Z asked.

No. why do you ask?" Sky asked worriedly as they slowed down until they were at a complete stop in the middle of the trail.

"well, when we got back last night, she was clutching peanuts and balling her eyes out. She said it was just a nightmare, but it seemed like it was more than just a mere nightmare. what do you guys think?"

"well, maybe it was just a stress induced nightmare." Sky said.

"I don't think so Sky. Last night, even though her aura was pulsing with joy, there was still a little bit of sadness there. Something's bothering her. Or haunting her."

"what do you mean 'haunting her' Bridge?" Z asked.

"well, usually when someone wakes up from a nightmare screaming and/or crying, they are either really afraid of something or a memory in her past is haunting her. Since it was sadness I sensed in her aura and not fear, I believe that a memory in her past is haunting her." Bridge said.

They all stood in silence for a while until Sky said, "come on guys, we need to finish. We have a long day ahead." With that said, they all ran to finish the trail.

When they got to the end of the trail, they stopped at a bench to take a break before they started their combat training. As they all sat down on the bench, they spotted Syd and her team a little ways away.

"hey look! Do ya think we should go over and say hello?" Z asked the two.

"no, she needs to concentrate on training with her team. And if we go over there, her team might not give her the respect she deserves." As Sky said this, Z gave him a confused look.

"ya see Z, people around here, especially the younger cadets, still have Syd pinned as a self-centered, spoiled princess. Ever since she has arrived here she was pinned as the SPD princess. They all just think that SPD is something for her to do until she finds something else to mess around with. Even after this passed year, they still expect her to just up and leave at the first opportunity." As Bridge said this, you could practically see the steam blowing out of Z's ears.

"I am going to find every cadet who thinks this of our friend and show them exactly how much she cares about SPD."

"Z chill, that's the last thing we need. And besides, she knows what everyone thinks of her, and so if she can get passed it then we should too." Sky said.

They fell into silence as they watched their best friend and former teammate in action.

training grounds(B-squad)

the four former c-squad members were stood around dressed in training clothes clad in their respective colors.

"B-squad, atten-hutt!" Syd exclaimed. No one responded to the command.

"I SAID…atten-HUTT!" once again, Syd did not receive a response from her new team.

"still no answer huh?" Syd said with a raised brow.

Al walked over(he's the blue ranger, incase you have forgotten) and put an arm around Syd's shoulder and said, "come on Drew, you don't seriously expect us to be led by you. Lets make a deal. You let me lead the team and I'll make sure you don't break a nail."

Syd stood for a moment of mock thinking. Then she grabbed his arm(which was slung around her shoulder.) and flipped him over. ("that's our Syd!" Z exclaimed as the three watched the event unfold with them having front row seats.)

Syd bent her head down to his ear and said "if you think that I will allow you to disrespect me like that, then you are so very wrong."

After a few seconds, Syd finally let him go. Al got up and went over to his teammates. This time, when she called them to attention, they snapped to it.

"now if anyone else has a problem with me being the leader then I suggest that you go to Commander Cruger to get reassigned because I assure you that I will not be stepping down from this position. I was hoping that for once, people wouldn't judge me by how much money I have. I thought that you four would be mature enough to look passed the money and the SPD princess rumors. You may not think that I am a suitable leader but Cruger does. I don't know why but he made me your leader. I was hoping that I was going to be with my original team but Cruger thought that it would be best if I lead you four. With Al's little agreement, you have all received Trail 4 and 5 along with the Trail 3 that we will run right now. Is that clear?" Syd shouted the question to emphasize that she was not joking around.

"Ma'm yes ma'm!" the four shouted.

Syd led them to trail 3. as they walked by, A-squad stood. As Syd saw them she abruptly stopped and called her team to attention. Sky realized that this was in response to them standing up. Sky took this as his chance to look over her team. He caught Z and Bridge's sight and they both nodded in understanding. Z and Bridge stood side-by-side as Sky walked up to B-squad.

He wanted to look them all over, starting with the pink ranger. He looked over the petite brunette. Syd watched them out of the corner of her eyes, a slight tint of jealousy playing on her face. _What is he doing? He is totally checking her out! _Syd let out a quick breath. As Sky heard this, he decided it was his que to move on, but not without a little smile playing on his lips.

Next in line was Peter, clad in yellow. Sky took a second to look him directly in the eyes. When he did this, Peter stared right into Sky's eyes, emotionless. _Smart move, kid. _

Moving on to Marcus, Sky saw him immediately tense. Sky shook his head slightly as a laugh threatened to escape from his mouth. _Jeez, I didn't know I was that scary. _

Moving onto Alfred, better known as Al, Sky noticed something. _He seems angry, but not by the fact that Syd just flipped him. No. at the fact that he isn't the red ranger. He reminds me of…well me. _A sad look flashed on Sky's face but was quickly replaced with an emotionless one. _He's going to give Syd a hard time, just like I gave Jack a hard time._

With that thought, he moved onto Syd. Now, he was checking her out. _She looks great in red. _But once again, he saw something in her eyes. _Is that…sadness. Why is she sad? _Moments later, Sky realized. _She thought that her new team would accept her, but they're just like everyone else. _As Syd met his eyes, she knew that he knew what she was feeling, even though she was putting up an almost emotionless front.

As they both silently analyzed their emotions, Z and Bridge stood by watching the interaction between their best friends.

"they are so obvious!" Z whispered.

"yeah, to everyone but themselves." Bridge said with a smile on his face.

"first day in red and your already kicking blue's ass huh?" Sky asked with a chuckle.

"yeah, well you know me Sky, I'm not one to hold back." Syd replied with a smile.

"alright, then by all means, don't let us hold you back. Continue." And with a nod from Sky, Syd gave her salute and ordered her team to follow her into the trail.

Z and Bridge walked up to Sky as he stood watching Syd run with her team.

"will you just tell her already?" Z asked as they reached their leader. Bridge shook his head. _I've been telling him that for years. _Sky had given up a long time ago in telling Z and Bridge that he wasn't attracted to Syd like that. Who was he kidding? He was totally into Syd like that.

"I can't. not yet." Sky said after a few minutes of thought.

"and why the hell not?" Z asked forcefully.

"because she needs time to adjust. I need time to adjust. Which reminds me. We need to get to combat training."

After a few groans from Z and Bridge, Sky led them into the academy and to the simulations room.

While running the trail with her team, Syd had a lot on her mind. _You would think that after defeating Gruum, I would get a little respect around here. I guess I have to start all over again. A new team, a new beginning I guess. _And with that, she led her team to the end of the trail.

All of them weren't so eager to finish because they all knew what was in store for them in the next two trails.

Unlike Jack's first time as a leader, Syd ran all three trails with her team. Allison was really impressed with her new leader. _I guess she's right. The SPD princess doesn't exist. Wow. We must seem like such jerks to her. Well, at least I'm not the only form of estrogen in this team anymore. _Trail 4 was only a little less flat than Trail 3, but Trail 5 was a nightmare. it was mostly up hill and a lot of uneven trail, but Syd led them through it.

Instead of running ahead as they followed, she stayed behind the pack incase anyone fell behind. When someone would try to look back at her, Syd would yell, "keep your eyes ahead, you don't want to get stuck in a ditch or hit a boulder!" once in a while, Peter would sneak glances at his leader and teammate. _Wow, even after we totally disrespected her, she still decided to watch our backs. I was so wrong about her. _

Peter turns and his eyes connect with Marcus(green ranger) and Peter knew that he was thinking the same thing. _(Marcus's thoughts) we were totally wrong to have disobeyed her like that. Man, Al probably still doesn't like Syd. And he probably won't accept her for a long time. _

Thinking of his older brother, Marcus looked up at Al. He was ahead of everyone else. _See, I am totally smokin' that princess over there. How can she be a leader if she can barely get through this trail. Psshh. _Even though Al heard her calls to her team and could tell that she was just hanging back so that she could watch their backs, he still told himself that he was better than her.

When they got to the end of the trail, Syd gave them a ten minute break.

When the break was over(Syd spent it to herself, making final arrangements for everyone's training), Syd, instead of calling them to attention, spoke to her team directly, "when Cruger told me that you guys were going to by the new B-squad, he gave me a file on each of you. I used those files to plan out individual training plans for each of you. I wanted to start with individual training first because I don't think that we are comfortable with each other enough to have our first group training in the simulator. With that said, I was hoping to have dinner tonight with all of you to celabrate all of our promotions. If you don't want to come, then don't come. It will be at High Tai(I am bad at naming restaurants ok!) tonight at 7. so come if you want to get to know me because I certainly want to get to know my teammates. Anyways, back to the training plan. I want Allison and Marcus to work on their shot in the shooting ranges. Peter and Al will work on their hand-to-hand combat skills in one of the training rooms." Syd said.

Before she was able to dismiss them, Al asked, "and what, praytell, do you plan on doing princess?"

Allison, Peter, and Marcus all exchanged a look of uneasiness due to the fact that Al had called her princess and the three of them had decided that that rumor was purely a rumor.

"well, Al, if you must ask, I was going to work out for a couple of hours and then speak to Cruger about a personal matter."

Her teammates, excluding Al, gave each other another uneasy look.

As Syd caught this, she said, "don't worry, it won't be about the disrespect I received this morning, it is about a personal matter. Now, do you all understand what you're doing?" they all nodded in response.

"alright then, Dismissed!" with that, the team dispersed to their directed areas. _I hope they show up tonight. It would be great to get to know them. They seem to be getting the fact that I am not the SPD princess everyone makes me out to be. Except for Al. what the hell is his problem?_


	5. Chapter 5

shooting range

"so Marc, what do you think about Syd?" Allison asked curiously as they walked into the range.

"well, I admit I did think that she was just a spoiled little rich brat, but after Trail 5, I think that she's really dedicated to SPD. At least she's dedicated to us. I just wish that Al would give her a chance."

"yeah I know. I don't get it. He never had a problem of who led the team before."

"yeah, well that's because no one really officially led the team. We were just sorta, a group. He's always wanted to be the red ranger." Marc picked up a gun(a normal modern-day one.)

"why are you using that ancient thing?" Allison asked.

"well, Al said it helped him with his shot. I figured that I might as well give it a shot. No pun intended." He said with a chuckle.

"oh I think all pun was intended." Allison laughed as she picked up the same type of gun.

"well then let's get started marky! Let's kick this shit." And so they begun their practice.

Training room

"whoa Al, easy off!" Peter said as Al kept pounding on him.

"do you think that our enemies will easy off when you ask them, NO!" Al shouted.

Although Peter blocked most of the punches Al threw at him, Peter was beginning to bruise. Since Al wasn't responding to his pleas, Peter decided it was time to fight back.

As the two fought, they didn't notice their leader and teammate stop at the treshold of their training room and watch them. _Hmm. Not bad. Technique could use a little work. Al's just charging Peter. He needs to learn how to control his emotions. Well, I guess we all need to learn how to do that. I know I do. _As she watched them, she noticed that Al was really pounding Peter. Peter was holding his own, but Al seemed to be taking his anger out on the yellow ranger. _Well, I have myself to blame. _ She saw a bit of red falling from Peter's lips and nose. _I have got to stop this. _

"I said to train, not beat the shit outta your teammate." Syd said calmly from the door.

"well, maybe if Peter were a stronger fighter, he wouldn't be getting the shit beat outta him." Al replied angrily.

"all your doing is hurting your team, not helping. I wanted you guys to strengthen each other, not beat the crap outta each other. I suggest you start working as a team, or else there won't be a B-squad team." Syd said, still as calm as can be.

As she turned around to leave, Al asked, "is that a threat, oh superior one?"

Syd let out a quick breath. _Doesn't this guy get it yet! I'm not against him! _

" actually Cadet Hunnington, I don't have power to give a threat like that. But I know Crugger. If this team doesn't work out he will terminate this team. He has an A-squad, he doesn't need a B-squad."

With that she left the training room, on her way to the weight room.

"I can't believe she would threaten to terminate the team!" Al exclaimed.

Peter shook his head. "didn't you bother to listen to her. She doesn't have that kinda power."

"are you kidding me Pete! She is Richard Drew's daughter! He pretty much runs this city! What makes you think she won't call up Daddy Dearest and ask him to throw a few bucks at Crugger to make him terminate the squad?"

"Come on Al! did you not see her today! She was being a leader out there! You were just competing with her out there! Al, if you would stop brooding for two seconds and just look at her and watch her in action, you'll see it!"

"Pete, what makes you think that its not just all an act?"

"because no one is that good of an actor. Or rather, actress"

With that they both sat silently before beginning hand-to-hand combat training.

weight room

after standing in at her teammates 'training', she went to the weight room to bench a few. It may not be common knowledge, but Sydney Drew could definitely pump that iron. While she was bench pressing 200(damn that girl's got muscle. Ok so I don't actually know what a reasonable weight is but whatever), Sky walked in.

as she saw her best friend walk in, she said, "Hey Sky! Whats up? I thought you guys were combat training."

"we were. We did. They have patrol right now, so I decided to work out for a bit. What are you doing? I thought you were training the team." Sky stated.

"I know. I gave them individual training orders. I just need to speak to Cruger soon about something." She said breathlessly as she let her weights rest and she got up. Sky gave her a confused look.

"about what Syd?"

"oh nothing important. Just some… stuff."

Sky gave her a worried look. _What could she possibly need to speak to cruger about? _

As Syd caught his look, she said, "Sky, don't worry about it. It really isn't that important ok?" Syd said. _Well, if you call finding out something about your real father not important… _

"alright Syd. Whatever you say." Sky said skeptically.

He layed back on the bench that Syd was using and started some reps. As Syd was wiping her sweat, she watched Sky. _Damn it Sky, you make it harder and harder not to love you. especially when your doing your reps. Damn. _Sky caught her checking him out. A wide smile grew on his face.

As Syd gathered her stuff to head out the door, she said, "well, see ya later Sky." And with that she left.

Sky suddenly stopped doing his reps and sat up to watch her leave. _She's not telling me something. Maybe its about her memory/nightmare that Z told us about. I hope she tells us soon so we can help her. Man, she was so hot with those reps. Damn, I gotta stop thinking about her like that. We need to re adjust before we do anything. Who am I kidding? I can't just turn off my feelings so that we can re adjust. Love sucks. _Sky lied back down and continued his workout, all the while thinking about Sydney Drew.

Command Center

Syd looked around for the commander. When she found him standing at a consol with Kat, she walked over to them. She cleared her throat to get their attention and it worked.

"do you need something Syd?" Kat asked.

"yeah, actually, I was hoping to speak to Commander…privately." Cruger shot a look at Kat and then looked at Syd.

"alright Syd. Lets go into my office." When they left, Kat continued her work.

Cruger's office

just like last time she was in there, cruger sat at his desk and Syd sat in the chair in front of the desk.

"what is it that you need Syd?" Cruger asked.

"well, Commander, I wanted to know why I was never informed that my father's death was not an accident. I wanted to know why I was never informed that my father was murdered. I wanted to know why I was never informed that you yourself was the one to catch my father's murderer."

As much as she tried, she couldn't stay calm. At the end of her rant, she was practically yelling at Cruger.

"Sydney, it was for your own good." Cruger said calmly.

"my own good. MY OWN GOOD? Ever since I was 7 I thought that my father died in an accidental fire. Up until yesterday, I always thought it was my fault. Thirteen years Anubis. THIRTEEN YEARS!" at this point Syd was stood up with tears spilling out of her eyes.

She was shaking uncontrollably. It completely broke Cruger's heart. Cruger stood up, walked around his desk over to Sydney, and embraced her.

"NO! don't touch me! Don't touch me!" She whimpered, hitting her fists against his chest until she was so weak that her knees gave out on her.

They sat on the floor. Everything was silent, except for Syd's sobs.

When her sobs weakened, she looked up at Cruger and asked hoarsely, "why didn't you tell me?"

Cruger looked down at the girl in his arms. The girl that he watched grow up and wiggle her way into his heart. The girl who he had vowed to protect and take care of like she was his own.

"I knew that if I told you, you would have gone to see him. You would have gone looking for answers. I didn't want you to get hurt. I thought that if you just kept on thinking that it was an accident, you wouldn't hurt as much. It was your mother's idea, but I agreed to it." Cruger answered, his voice filled with sorrow.

Syd could tell that he was remembering her father just like she was.

When they stood up, Syd looked Cruger directly in the eyes and said, "I want to see him."

"no Sydney. I forbid you to see that monster." Cruger said sternly.

"I need to see the guy that killed my father. I need to!" Syd pleaded.

"I know that you would go, despite what I say. But Sydney, I am asking you not to see him. You have grown so much over the passed 20 years that I have watched you grow. You don't need to hurt yourself even more by facing that guy. Please Sydney. Don't go." As he said that, he let go of the embrace and looked at her.

A single tear fell as she said, "ok." As quiet as a mouse and walked out of the office without a second glance at the Commander.

Cruger let out a sigh. Moments later, Kat walked in.

"she knows, doesn't she?" Kat asked.

Cruger nodded his head, "yes," he said quietly.

Kat walked over to him and placed a hand on his back. "She was bound to find out Doggie. You and I knew that. Dana knew that. It was only a matter of time."

"she wants to see him, Kat. She wants to see her father's murderer and I can't stop her." Doggie exclaimed as he lowered his head to stare at the ground.

"Doggie, you are like a father to her. She values your opinion. She's not going to see him if you asked her not to."

After a few minutes of silence, they both composed themselves and exited the office.

A/N: yeah…I know… Cruger's a sap. But I liked the idea of him knowing Syd her whole life, I hope you do to! Review please! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

Syd and Z's room

Syd had managed to get back to her room without anyone noticing her tear-streaked face. She punched in the code to lock her door so that even Z could get in without knocking. She wasn't exactly in the mood for company. _I can't believe its all true. Someone murdered my father. Someone purposefully burnt my childhood house down and destroyed papa. _

"who would do something like that?" Syd whispered to herself.

Her tears were spilling out of her eyes again. All of the pain she has been feeling for 13 years was spilling out of her as fast as her tears were. She felt so weak she didn't even make it to her bed. She collapsed in the middle of her and Z's beds.

"YOU BASTARD!" She screamed.

"you bastard." It came out as a whisper.

As her hurt turned into anger, she got the strength to stand up and walk to her closet. She threw open the door and reached up to the top of her closet. She pulled down a big box labeled "CG" for Carter Grayson. She set it down where she had fallen previously and then walked over to her desk. She picked up a file. The file that had revealed to her the truth about her father. She sat down next to the box that was covered in a thin layer of dust.

She hadn't opened it in years. It was time to bust it open again. She lifted the lid and the moment she saw the picture on top, an agonizing sob escaped out of her lips. She picked up the picture frame.

Residing inside the frame was a picture of the lightspeed rescue power rangers. Her parents' old team. Syd's tears spilled down onto the frame, distorting the faces of her family. They were in their ranger forms without their helmets. Papa was in the middle with mama at his right. Uncle Ryan was at mom's other side and then there was grandpa. On the other side of papa was Aunt Kelsey. Next to her was Uncle Chad, then Uncle Joel and his wife Aunt Angela. _I haven't seen them in so long. _

Memories flooded her mind. Birthday parties. Holidays. And just plain hanging out. Syd put the picture frame down and dug through the box. it was mostly lightspeed pictures, mixed with some family pictures of just her, mama, and papa. As she looked through the pictures, Syd let her tears fall freely.

When she got to the bottom of the box, she found a jewelry box. not remembering what she put in it, she opened it and took in a small gasp.

"oh my goodness. I can't believe I still have these."

Inside the box were three rings. Two of them belonged to Carter and the third was the promise ring that Carter gave her. Although Syd was never really religious, she wore it anyways. At least, she used to wear it. It was too big for her when he gave it to her, so she wore it on a chain around her neck.

The other two rings belonged to her papa. One was his wedding ring. Mama had given it to her after Papa's funeral. She never wore it.

The third ring was the ring that Papa had never taken off. One day, the day after her 7th birthday, she layed in her papa's arms watching cartoons in their living room. Syd always had the tendency to play with the rings on his finger.

That day she finally asked, "papa, why do you have this ring? I never see you take it off. Why?"

"well baby, when I was a kid, my papa, your grandpa, died. After his funeral, my mama, your grandma, gave me his wedding ring. She said that as long as I have this ring, I will never forget him. So I have never taken it off." Carter told the young girl in his arms as a tear rolled down his face.

Syd shut her eyes tightly as she remembered this. _I almost forgot about that. I can't believe I almost forgot. _She slipped her papa's wedding ring on her right ring finger, grandpa's wedding ring on her middle finger, and finally her own promise ring on her left ring finger.

All three rings were plain silver bands on the outside, the inscriptions on the inside of the bands told a different story. Her grandpa's ring said "_forever and a day, I'll love you for always-RG&MG". _Papa's ring said "_you'll be here in my heart always_(song-you'll be in my heart)_-CG&DG". _And her promise ring says, _"your heart can only be given once, choose wisely." _

She smiled as she looked down at her hands. It felt good to wear the rings again. She had put them away, thinking that it would only cause her pain to wear the rings everyday, but the feeling she was getting right now was completely opposite. She felt closer to her father again.

She didn't realize that she had begun crying again. Silent tears streamed down her face. She left the jewelry box out and put all of the pictures back in the box marked "CG". She put the file on her father's murder on the very top.

She put the box back on the top shelf of her closet and walked over to her bed. She sat clutching peanuts in her arms, allowing her tears to flow freely. (yeah I know…I'm making her cry a lot, well you would cry a lot too ok!) after all of the crying she had done, she got tired and decided to lay down.

For the first time in, well…probably years, Sydney Grayson Drew fell into a peaceful sleep. One problem, she forgot to unlock the door.


	7. Chapter 7

outside of Syd and Z's room(an hour after Syd fell asleep)

"err…I hate patrolling. Nothing ever happens." Z complained to Bridge, who had walked her back to her room after they had patrolled.

"come on Z, its part of the job. If we all only did things that we liked, then no one would get anywhere in life." Bridge said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulders.

To hide the blush that was appearing on her cheeks, Z turned to the door and entered the code. Nothing happened.

"what the hell?" Z whispered.

"whats wrong?" bridge asked as he peered over her shoulders to see what was wrong.

"someone locked the door. Syd never locks the door." Z stated, her voice dripping with worry.

"I'm sure she's fine. She probably just needs some time alone. She didn't exactly have a great training day with her team."

"great, so she decides that I get to stand out here forever smelling like sweat and grime because I didn't have time to shower before patrolling because Sky didn't even give us 5 minute breaks!" Z was about to kick the door down(not that that was possible, but Z is a stubborn ass) but Bridge stopped her.

"Come on Z. Syd has a lot on her right now, just give her the time alone that she needs." Before Bridge could continue on to ask Z if he wanted to go to his room(A/N: to clean up! Jeez guys… get your heads out of the gutter!), he saw Allison and Marcus walking towards them.

When they looked up, they saw Bridge and Z looking at them.

"hey! You're pink and green right? B-squad?" Bridge asked.

"yeah." They replied in unison.

They seemed very uncomfortable. Bridge didn't pick up on that. If he did, he didn't really care.

"so how was training with Syd?" Z asked.

"oh, well after the trails she kinda paired us off to work on our weaker areas." Marc said, noticing that Allison was very nervous around their superiors.

"Trails?" Bridge asked.

"yeah, since Al tried to make a deal with Syd, she decided to add trails 4 and 5 after trail 3." Marc replied once again.

"ouch. What did he say?" Z asked.

"well, my dumb ass of a brother decided to tell our newly appointed leader that he would lead the team and make sure that Syd didn't break a nail."

"ooh. That's understandable. You're lucky Z didn't walk over their and kick his ass." Bridge said waving a thumb over to Z.

"Hey! Syd had everything under control. I wasn't about to get involved, Syd looked mad. It kinda sucks when she's mad, just a heads up for you two." Z said to Marcus and Allison.

"hey, if you guys are done training, how about we grab something in the lounge?" Bridge suggested.

Marc looked at Allison. With a nod from Allison, Marc said "sure, why not? Syd told us to train and that's what we did. I guess we could chill for now." And the four headed for the lounge.

Weight room

As Sky stood up, after doing some push-ups, he heard voices coming into the room "Pete, can we just drop it already?" Al said walking into the weight room with Peter.

"why are we even in here? Syd just asked us to hand-to-hand train, not work out." Peter asked.

He was tired from training because Al had gone medieval on him.

"we already did that Pete. And I just wanted to see if the princess was really working out."

He looked around. It was empty, except for Sky, who had his back to them and putting his stuff away.

"see. She isn't even here. She's probably getting her nails done of something." Al said as he headed over to put his stuff down.

Sky stood up and looked at them. Pete's eyes got wide and he kicked Al.

"ouch! What the hell man?" Al turned around and quickly stood when he saw Sky staring at them.

"for you information, Cadet Hunnington, Syd was in here. She was in here for about two hours. Then she left to speak to Commander Cruger." Sky said as he crossed his arms across his chest. _Yup, this guy is definitely going to give Syd a hard time. _

"thank you for the information." Al said as he picked his stuff up and was about to leave with Peter, when he heard Sky call him back. They both turned around to look at him.

"Yes sir?" Al said.

"don't doubt Cruger's decision about making Syd red ranger. And don't doubt Syd's ability as a leader."

Before Al could say anything, Pete hit him in the stomach and said. "we know sir. Thank you." and he pulled Al out of the weight room before he said something that he would regret later.

When they were out of Sky's ear shot, Al said, "what does he know?"

"umm…a lot considering the fact that he has been on Syd's team for awhile." Peter said.

"yeah, whatever. I'm going to head to my room. See ya later Pete." Al said and walked away.

Peter froze when he heard a voice from behind him.

"I hope he gets an attitude adjustment soon, or he will be the end of your squad." Peter turned around and looked at Sky.

"Syd wouldn't do that right?" Peter asked.

"no, she couldn't nor wouldn't, but the Commander would. He might not terminate the whole squad, but Al better watch his mouth. He has no clue what he's talking about." Sky said.

Peter could tell that Sky was angry about the comments Al was making. _Hmm. Interesting. I wonder what's going on with him and Syd. Should I ask? _

Before Peter could stop himself, he asked, "so what's up with you and Syd anyways?" S

ky tensed. _Did he seriously just ask that? _After a moment of silence, Sky cleared his throat, and said, "I do believe that is non of your business."

And before Peter can say anything, Sky walked away. _That was a very shady answer. He's totally into her. _Peter walked to the lounge with a smile on his face.

A/N: sorry…I wanted to make Z more mad but…I dunno. Sorry for a shorty! I'll update soon! Hope your still diggin this fic! Thanks for all of the great reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

outside of Syd and Z's room

Sky walked down the hallway and suddenly stopped by her door. _I wonder if she's back from talking to cruger. It has been several hours. _Sky checked his watch. It read 2:30. _Hmm…she should be back by now. Damn, I am so obivious. Even that Peter guy knew it. Maybe I should check on her. _So Sky knocked on the door and said, "Syd? Syd, ya in there?"

inside of Syd and Z's room

"_**that's right hunny, just keep pedaling." Carter said as he pushed his daughter on her bike. **_

"_**Don't let go yet daddy, don't let go." Syd said fearfully. **_

"_**I won't baby. I won't let go until you're ready." Carter said reassuringly. A few minutes later, Carter says, "are you ready Cadet Grayson?"**_

_**after taking a deep breath, Syd said, "all System's go Commander Papa!" and Carter let go of the back of the bike and stopped. **_

"_**Papa I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Syd yelled as she pedaled down the street. **_

"_**I'm so proud of you cadet! You're doing great!" as she slowed down, she physically got older and stopped her bike infront of her house.(the day changed, she's in a new memory) **_

"_**Daddy, I'm home!" Syd screamed as she entered the house. **_

"_**I'm in the study hunny! Come here. I got you something!" Carter yelled from within the closed doors. Syd squealed. She entered the Study and gave her papa a kiss. **_

"_**what did you get me papa?" Syd asked as she climbed into her father's lap. Carter pulled out a small box. **_

"_**here cadet. Your mama didn't want me giving this to you so early, but I thought you would enjoy it."**_

_**Syd opened the small box excitedly and pulled out a silver band laced onto a silver chain. **_

"_**its so pretty papa. What is it?" **_

_**Carter took the necklace from her and as he began to put it on his daughter, he said, "it's a promise ring. Inside it says 'your heart can only be given once, choose wisely'. That means that you wear this ring until the day you truly find the love of your life. When you do find that person, you replace this promise ring with your wedding ring." **_

"_**thank you papa. I love it so much!" Syd said before hopping off of him and heading out of the door. **_

_**As she passed to the other side of the door, she became an older Sydney, dressed in a beautiful wedding dress. **_

"_**you look beautiful Syd." Bridge said as he offered her his arm. **_

"_**Thanks Bridgey. Thank you for everything." Syd said. **_

"_**always Syd. Always." Bridge said as he leaned over and planted a light kiss on Syd's cheek. **_

"_**are we ready Syd?" **_

_**Syd gave a nod. Suddenly she was walking down an aisle. As she got to the alter, she looked over at her husband-to-be. It was Sky. **_

"_**Syd? Syd, ya in there?" **_

Syd groaned as she moved a litte.

"Syd? Syd, ya in there?"

Her eyes fluttered open as she heard the familiar voice. _Wow, that was an amazing dream. Too bad it was only a dream._

As she realized that Sky was probably outside, she got up, still clutching peanuts, and walked to the door. She entered the code to unlock the door. When the door slid open, Sky's back was to her, he was about to leave. As Sky heard the door slip open behind him, he turned around to find Syd clutching peanuts. Her hair was messy from her nap and her clothes wrinkled.

"hey Sky." Syd said as she stretched out her arms.

When Sky looked into her eyes, he noticed the puffy redness. Immediately concerned, Sky asked, "Syd are you alright? You look like you've been crying. Whats wrong?"

Syd immediately turned around. _Shit my eyes are still red. _

"Syd? Come on, talk to me please?" Sky said as he pulled her arm to turn her around.

"I'm sorry, Sky. I just woke up. I'm just tired." Syd answered half-truthfully.

Even as she said it, she knew that Sky would see right through it. And that he did.

"Syd, come on. I know you better by now don't you think? What's wrong Sydney?" as he said this, Sky took his hands and cupped Syd's face.

As she looked into his concern-filled eyes, tears began to escape her own. _Damn it. I can't hide shit from this guy. _Sky saw the tears spilling out of her eyes, so he pulled her into a tight hug. _(Syd's thoughts) I can't tell him. Not yet anyways. I can't tell him until I can tell everyone, including my new team. But he is my best friend. And he understands what its like to loose a father. Shit, I don't know what to do. _After few minutes, Syd pulled away, but only enough to look into Sky's eyes.

"I don't know if I'm ready to tell anyone Sky."

"that's alright Syd. But I want you to know that I am always here for you. just know that ok?" Sky said.

"I know Sky. I have always known." Syd said, letting go of the hug that they were still in.

Syd began to fix her bed. Sky walked over and started helping her. Syd looked up and smiled. Sky smiled back. When he looked down, he noticed the rings on her fingers.

"Syd?"

"yeah Sky?" Syd looked up at Sky, and then noticed that he was staring at her fingers.

"did you get new rings? I've never seen you wear them before." Sky said Curiously.

"actually, I've had them for along time. I just recently found them again." Syd said as she lifted up her right hand for him, absentmindedly toying with the promise ring on her left hand.

"They're beautiful Syd." Sky said with a smile.

"thanks. Umm…I'm kinda hungry. Do you want to go to the lounge and get a snack or something?" Syd asked.

"Sure, why not."

And they both left for the lounge, leaving the bed half-made.

A/N: the reason for Carter being called "commander papa" will be revealed later on! And the wedding part of the dream was kinda cheesy but I don't care…I love Sky and Syd!


	9. Chapter 9

Lounge(when Z, Bridge, Allison, and Marcus first get there)

"so, why do you guys not like Syd?" Z asks bluntly.

Allison and Marcus look at each other for a second.

"wow Z, way to ease into it." Bridge said sarcastically.

"what? Come on Bridge. All I want to know is why they don't respect Syd. After all, she helped bring down Gruumm. She was an awesome pink ranger and she's an amazing person. I just want to know why she's not getting the respect she deserves." Z said angrily.

"Z, when you first got here, you thought the same thing. You thought that she was just another spoiled rich kid. You can't blame them."

And before Z was able to reply to Bridge, Marcus cleared his throat and got their attention.

"I just wanted to let you know that Allison and I don't think like that about Syd anymore. And I'm pretty sure neither does Peter. Syd was amazing out on Trail 5. She stayed at our tail to make sure everyone got up alright. She motivated us to finish the trail because we were all tired from doing 3 trails. The only one that doesn't think Syd should be at SPD, let alone be red ranger, is my brother, Al. He's always wanted to be leader so he got mad when he found out that the imfamous SPD princess got the job and not him. We know that we were wrong about Syd."

"we're sorry we doubted her. I think she'll be an awesome leader and I only hope that I'm good enough to fill her shoes as B-squad pink." Allison said quietly as she stared at the ground.

"I'm sure you will. She mentioned you. she said that, by your stats, she thinks you'll be a great pink ranger." Z said.

Allison looked up and smiled. Bridge smiled. _Hmm. Maybe we'll all be able to be friends after all. Well, if Al comes to his damn senses. _

"hey guys!" Peter said as he walked into the lounge.

"hey Pete." Marcus and Allison said in unison. Peter walked over and sat next to Marcus and Allison, who were sitting across from Bridge and Z.

"Hey, Blue and Yellow right? Syd's old teammates?" Peter asked as he looked at them.

"yeah. And you're yellow. You're taking my old job." Z stated.

"so, you guys worked with Syd previously. Do you have any dirt on our princess?" Peter asked.

"princess?" Z asked forcefully.

"whoa. I mean princess as in a 'jokingly nickname' way. I know she's a dedicated ranger." Peter said, fearfully because Z looked like she was about to kick his ass back to D-squad.

"oh, well then, Syd has this one…" Z was interrupted by Syd saying sarcastically, "wow guys, dishing dirt about me already. Boy, do I feel the love."

They all looked up to see Syd and Sky walk into the lounge.

"hey Syd. Did you lock the door to the room earlier?" Z asked.

"oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I just wanted to sleep without any interruptions." Syd said.

"yeah, it looks like that turned out swell." Peter said with a lifted brow and looking at Sky. Both Sky and Syd visibly blushed. Syd cleared her throat.

" aren't you guys supposed to be training?" Syd asked, trying to change the subject.

"yeah, well…we did what you told us to, then we bumped into Z and Bridge and we all decided to come here. I don't know what Peter's doing here." Marcus said.

All eyes turned to Peter.

"hey, after Al beat my ass, we went to the weight room to see you. I guess he wanted to see if the 'princess' kept her word and went to work out. That's where we saw Sky." Peter said as he pointed to Sky.

"yeah, I saw them." Sky said when Syd looked at him.

"oh, well. I guess its alright. You guys did train. I was going to check on everyone's progress but I guess my nap after my talk with Cruger went longer than it should have. Sorry." Syd said.

She sat in a chair while Sky sat on the armrest. They sat there chatting for a while, just getting to know each other.

A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter! These past 8 chapters have been what I have been previously working on like 2 months ago. So it will probably take a few days for the next chapter because I'm getting writer's block. Please don't be mad. I hate having writer's block.


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